How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

***

Dark attribute monsters are weak to light.

And the unusually large number of monsters pouring out from the gate right now were mostly of the dark attribute.

Therefore, when the sun rises high in the sky during the day, the attacks from the monsters tend to lessen.

On the first day of the abnormal situation at noon, Shin Baran took advantage of this to send hunters beyond the barrier to rescue the illegal residents there.

The illegal residents who managed to survive and make it here seemed to be gathered in one part of the fortress.

Given that the danger zone had expanded to their living area, they would need to relocate once this situation is over.

“So, you know, Chan-ho in LA…”

Min Jae-yoon was primarily responsible for taking care of them.

Yeah. This damn half-breed and heretical Shin Baran definitely wouldn’t let Min Jae-yoon support the hunters. How petty.

“I didn’t finish listening yesterday, so I’m continuing today. I’m looking forward to it…”

I was glad that she seemed to enjoy it, but still.

I listened to Min Jae-yoon’s never-ending exciting stories.

It seemed like she had become close with a lot of people lately. Now that I think about it, ever since she gained control over her curse, has she ever been around so many people before?

It was fortunate that she was having good experiences for the first time.

“Did you give them something in exchange for the stories this time too?”

“Yeah! I did what Nahyun said! They liked it!”

So I didn’t bother to mention that their kindness might also be a strategy to get something in return.

I just told her to give the leftover supplies from that day to people she liked.

Maybe the reason they didn’t use any derogatory language about half-breeds was that Min Jae-yoon was in charge of distributing supplies?

… Let’s just say I was being too cynical with my dirty personality. There are probably many who approach with genuine gratitude or goodwill.

“I’ll be back!”

“Okay.”

I waved goodbye to Min Jae-yoon as she cheerfully left the room.

As she met more people, her obsession with me seemed to have diminished quite a bit.

Thank goodness for that.

At that moment, the door swung open with a bang.

“Is Baran here?”

“Baran, let’s go!”

Shin Baran was always popular. She did her job well, and her reactions to compliments were cute.

I calmly replied.

“Baran was taken by Hunter Shin Barun.”

It was the fifth time I had said this today.

Shin Barun had been incredibly jealous for a while, and now she was taking Baran around as her personal aide.

Of course, she didn’t take her to the battlefield, but during command inside the fortress, it was common to see Shin Barun moving around with Baran. Baran, well… she was over the moon about it.

“Captain, isn’t Baran taking up too much space lately?”

“Well, she’s not exactly useful for the squad leader…”

There were rumors that she was taking over for the squad leader instead.

To be fair, it was clear that Choi Garam was the kind of person who slacked off too much.

I glanced at the backs of the hunters who were trudging along. I understood they were disheartened, but I wished they would close the door when they left.

Me? What was I doing?

Just then, I saw my assigned hunter running into the room with a smile.

“Let’s go, Nahyun! We need to charge the cannon!”

“Sure.”

Charging mana.

I had asked if there was anything I could do while sitting down, and that’s how I ended up here. I was sitting side by side with the half-conscious DumDum, charging mana into our weapons.

I followed closely behind the hunter.

“Oh, you’re here? Sit down!”

I quickly sat down. Next to me, DumDum was expressionlessly pouring mana into the cannon. I joined in and started charging my mana as well.

When it was time to fire the cannon, the GAH filter would convert my mana into the property of the mana stone in the filter.

According to the hunters, the conversion efficiency for non-elemental mana is pretty good. Of course, the best situation would be to have mana of the same property so that conversion isn’t necessary at all.

“I wonder when this situation will end?”

One of the hunters grumbled.

It would only end when the final phase arrived. Given the timing, it would probably start tomorrow.

“Yeah, right?”

I couldn’t say, “It’ll end after a rough day tomorrow,” so I responded accordingly.

Bang—! Bang—!

We exchanged casual banter, the noise now familiar in the background.

Once the cannon was fully charged, we would have to quickly move it up to the fortress, so we were working in a corridor that allowed for smooth movement.

A variety of people passed by, and every sound was crystal clear.

“Confirmation of the appearance of a boss monster showing unexpected patterns! Southern barrier breach! Hunters currently on standby, prepare for support!”

So, the bad news was also too clear to ignore.

I jumped up from my seat.

“Nahyun?”

“The south…”

The south was,

“Where the civilians are sheltering…?”

That was where Min Jae-yoon was.

Boom—!

Beyond the sounds of battle, a massive object collapsing echoed through the air.

“Southern fortress, Tower 3 has collapsed! I repeat! Tower 3 has collapsed!”

At the same time, I caught sight of someone darting past me.

“Park Si-woo! What are you doing?”

A hunter shouted loudly. People chased after him to catch him.

However, with his sword drawn, he pushed past those trying to stop him without a word and vanished.

While I stared blankly at his retreating figure, my mouth moved on its own.

“He must have gone south.”

I sprang up from my seat. The hunters flinched and tried to stop me.

“Are you trying to go there too—”

“No, I’ll head to the internal shelter! My life is precious!”

At my forceful declaration, the hunters flinched and fervently nodded.

“Y-Yeah! Students need to stay safe! Hey, you! Take her to the northern shelter!”

“Got it!”

I obediently started running in the direction opposite DumDum, following the hunter’s lead.

Huh? Am I really just going to the shelter?

[1-person teleportation ticket – 500 points] – Single use (expires upon use)
– Can be used to teleport to any desired location within a 1 km radius.
Of course, that’s a lie.

I held the ticket tightly in my hand and shouted.

“Hunter!”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll just go to the south for a moment!”

“What?!”

Rip.

As I tore the ticket, my body suddenly moved inside the fortress, close to the collapsed southern tower.

Outside the window, there were countless monsters flying around.

Dark mana enveloped parts of the tower. In front of it, Min Jae-yoon and other hunters were defending that area.

“Alright.”

The place I had to protect was over there.

I pulled out my Meister weapon from my inventory and equipped it. Two handguns were strapped to my waist, and a long sniper rifle was slung over my arms.

There was nothing wrong. It was fine. I reassured myself as I handled the guns.

The real battle was about to begin.

“Let’s do our best.”

I whispered to myself as I aimed at the monsters charging into the black mana dome.

Bang—!

The gunshot rang out, and the monster that was about to pounce on Min Jae-yoon fell to the ground. I shouted into the communicator.

“I’ll cover you, Jae-yoon!”

Injured and battered, Min Jae-yoon hesitated for a moment before shifting from a defensive stance to an offensive one. I could hear static over the communicator.

– What are you doing? Move to the shelter quickly!

– Damn it, where are you?!

– The south! Unit 5! I’m moving to Tower 3 with you!

I ignored all the noise. What mattered right now wasn’t that. I carefully observed the swarm of monsters.

These monsters were Harpies.

According to the hunters, even if monsters change and enhance due to their dark attributes, their basic behaviors mostly remain the same.

“If that’s the case…”

I needed to exploit the Harpies’ trait of scattering when their leader was lost.

Even if the leader’s behavior pattern differed, as long as the entire Harpy swarm didn’t change, there was a possibility.

I kept an eye on the Harpy swarm while providing cover for Min Jae-yoon and the other hunters.

Bang—!

Kyaek!

With every gunshot, a Harpy with its core shattered screamed.

However, after sending enough Harpies to the afterlife for a while,

I felt a strange sense of unease as I noticed the leader was nowhere to be found.

Kieek!

A slow but piercing cry reached my ears.

At the same time, all the Harpies turned their eyes toward my location.

This is dangerous. The moment I thought that,

Kyeek!

The Harpies began to charge at me. I quickly tore the teleportation ticket.

Kwarung—!

I watched as the spot I had just occupied collapsed.

I took my stance and looked toward the Harpies. One Harpy was flapping its wings alone in place.

It was the leader.

Click.

I held my breath and aimed at the core of the leader Harpy. Just as the cackling Harpy relaxed—

Bang—!

The magically charged bullet struck the core of the leader Harpy. The core shattered into pieces, and the leader Harpy let out a scream.

Kyeek!

Its massive body came crashing down toward me.

I tried to shoot it down, but realized I had already exhausted my mana. It was the consequence of firing a maximum-output magic bullet.

Oh no…!

At that moment, I heard someone’s voice behind me.

“Found you, you damn brat.”

Bang—!

A bullet shattered the corpse of the Harpy that was approaching me. The grotesque pieces of flesh came hurtling toward me unrealistically.

I turned around to see a middle-aged woman holding a gun.

“People are going to die here.”